Seattle Women's Commission

2008 Workplan

The work of the Seattle Women's Commission is conducted largely through four committees:

• Committee for Economic Opportunity, Advancement, and Security
• Health and Human Services Committee
• Race and Social Justice Committee
• Violence Against Women Committee

The Committee for Economic Opportunity, Advancement, and Security

• Promote financial literacy for women (retirement planning and investments, debt management and predatory lending; predatory lending not only as it relates to payday loans, but also credit cards, mortgages, and other types of loans and fees
• Research and promote availability of childcare resources. Analyze the City's budget allocation for child care services and the distribution of those resources

Health and Human Services Committee

• Identify opportunities for improving access to affordable, quality child-care for families in Seattle. In particular, focus efforts on making recommendations for increased funding for the City of Seattle's child-care voucher program, which has long waiting lists of families in need
• Raise awareness about care giving and its impact on women caregivers in our communities. Conduct preliminary research to identify organizations and agencies that support caregivers of elders in the Seattle area and educate the full Commission about the scope of needs and challenges facing caregivers. From this, develop strategies for raising the profile of this issue and identify whether there is an appropriate policy response to recommend
• Monitor additional health and human services related issues that arise, including continued follow-up on addressing disparities in infant mortality rates for Native Americans and other communities of color in the Seattle area

Race and Social Justice Committee

The Race and Social Justice Committee of the Seattle Women's Commission is deeply committed to the following in its ongoing effort to improve the lives of women and communities of color in the City of Seattle:

• To continue to promote an Anti-Racist policy analysis and work to prevent institutionalized racism in Seattle city government
• To help better the lives of Refugee and Immigrant women in the city of Seattle
• To help gain more Affordable Housing units for women in the City of Seattle

Violence Against Women Committee

• Convene panels on accountability alternatives to the criminal legal systems and sexual assault awareness month
• Host screening of sexual trafficking video for SWC and others. Meet with police and others who address the issue of sexual trafficking. Produce report on sexual trafficking in Seattle
• Conduct community assessment of support for youth in domestic violence relationships
• Participate actively in the Domestic Violence Prevention Council and its Criminal Justice Committee

2008 Commissioners

Sonya Zilka

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